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4.51 AVERAGE
4.51 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reread, only a few weeks after the first time I read it. Partly because the first time was an audio book, and a regular book allowed me to enjoy the good parts all the more. But mostly because it was just that good. That’s all.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved how all the later books are told from different perspectives. Pheris was particularly endearing!
"Where the king gives his heart, he gives it completely."
So What’s It About?
Neither accepted nor beloved, Eugenides is the uneasy linchpin of a truce on the Lesser Peninsula, where he has risen to be high king of Attolia, Eddis, and Sounis. As the treacherous Baron Erondites schemes anew and a prophecy appears to foretell the death of the king, the ruthless Mede empire prepares to strike. The New York Times–bestselling Queen’s Thief novels are rich with political machinations, divine intervention, dangerous journeys, battles lost and won, power, passion, and deception.
What I Thought
It’s never easy to end a series, especially when the series is as beloved as this one and the ending is decades in the making. I’m happy to report that in this case Megan Whalen Turner absolutely delivered on the kind of ending everyone in the series deserves.
Part of what I like about this series is that it always tries something new to keep you on your toes, and I think in this case Turner has written her most interesting narrator yet in Pheris, a disabled and disfigured young boy who is nearly universally despised and held in contempt. He’s an excellent character and a challenging narrator with his determination to play dumb as often as possible and his suspicion and loneliness that bloom into fierce loyalty to Gen. It is immensely difficult to read about the hatred that the world throws at him and I treasured every victory that came his way from him discovering his love of math and bonding with Relius and the magus to learning how to ride with the help of a friendly stablemaster. You see how meticulously he keeps track of every slight and every act of kindness because these mean the difference between life and death for him, and I am so glad that he ends up saving the day and finding his place in court.
I will say that the handling of perspective felt a little ungainly in this book compared to the others – there are long stretches that fall into third person before switching to Pheris’s first person again. The abrupt changes bothered me. My other major complaint is that there are a truly massive number of servant/attendant characters to keep track of, which quickly became irritating.
Mostly, though, Return of the Thief delivers on the classic staples of the series – there are well-considered politics, intrigue and scheming that made me think hard and revisit passages before culminating in a number of very clever reveals at the end of the book. The second staple of these books is that Gen more or less acts like a giant diva, moody and petulant and charming and never without a really dangerous, complicated plan. In this case I loved how he funds people to denounce him to take the weight off of Eddis’s shoulders. I will say that Gen’s final plan in this book feels a little less elaborate and satisfying than they have been in past books, but it was still very rewarding.
There are FINALLY gay characters in this world but they’re relatively minor and their presence does nothing to allay the irrevocable truth that Kamet and Costis should be in love. There are also some touches of feminism that get explored when Eddis faces dissent and doubt from her barons and Attolia fights to go to war while pregnant.
It was especially lovely to see the moments of bonding between Gen, Irene, Sophos and Helen, and all the other characters whose stories have intersected with theirs along the way. I especially liked seeing how Gen and Irene function as a couple now after their history of enmity and political marriage. It’s a pretty much perfect ending to a fantastic series and it will remain one of the best I’ve read, YA or otherwise. For now I’ll leave the gang dancing on the rooftops, and I’m sure to return sooner or later.
So What’s It About?
Neither accepted nor beloved, Eugenides is the uneasy linchpin of a truce on the Lesser Peninsula, where he has risen to be high king of Attolia, Eddis, and Sounis. As the treacherous Baron Erondites schemes anew and a prophecy appears to foretell the death of the king, the ruthless Mede empire prepares to strike. The New York Times–bestselling Queen’s Thief novels are rich with political machinations, divine intervention, dangerous journeys, battles lost and won, power, passion, and deception.
What I Thought
It’s never easy to end a series, especially when the series is as beloved as this one and the ending is decades in the making. I’m happy to report that in this case Megan Whalen Turner absolutely delivered on the kind of ending everyone in the series deserves.
Part of what I like about this series is that it always tries something new to keep you on your toes, and I think in this case Turner has written her most interesting narrator yet in Pheris, a disabled and disfigured young boy who is nearly universally despised and held in contempt. He’s an excellent character and a challenging narrator with his determination to play dumb as often as possible and his suspicion and loneliness that bloom into fierce loyalty to Gen. It is immensely difficult to read about the hatred that the world throws at him and I treasured every victory that came his way from him discovering his love of math and bonding with Relius and the magus to learning how to ride with the help of a friendly stablemaster. You see how meticulously he keeps track of every slight and every act of kindness because these mean the difference between life and death for him, and I am so glad that he ends up saving the day and finding his place in court.
I will say that the handling of perspective felt a little ungainly in this book compared to the others – there are long stretches that fall into third person before switching to Pheris’s first person again. The abrupt changes bothered me. My other major complaint is that there are a truly massive number of servant/attendant characters to keep track of, which quickly became irritating.
Mostly, though, Return of the Thief delivers on the classic staples of the series – there are well-considered politics, intrigue and scheming that made me think hard and revisit passages before culminating in a number of very clever reveals at the end of the book. The second staple of these books is that Gen more or less acts like a giant diva, moody and petulant and charming and never without a really dangerous, complicated plan. In this case I loved how he funds people to denounce him to take the weight off of Eddis’s shoulders. I will say that Gen’s final plan in this book feels a little less elaborate and satisfying than they have been in past books, but it was still very rewarding.
There are FINALLY gay characters in this world but they’re relatively minor and their presence does nothing to allay the irrevocable truth that Kamet and Costis should be in love. There are also some touches of feminism that get explored when Eddis faces dissent and doubt from her barons and Attolia fights to go to war while pregnant.
It was especially lovely to see the moments of bonding between Gen, Irene, Sophos and Helen, and all the other characters whose stories have intersected with theirs along the way. I especially liked seeing how Gen and Irene function as a couple now after their history of enmity and political marriage. It’s a pretty much perfect ending to a fantastic series and it will remain one of the best I’ve read, YA or otherwise. For now I’ll leave the gang dancing on the rooftops, and I’m sure to return sooner or later.
I am crying in the CLUB right now. What a brilliant ending and what a brilliant series this was.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
